News of: Wednesday, 6th of February, 2008

Front Page

The Election Commission (EC) has set end of March as the deadline for the caretaker government for lifting the restrictions on indoor politics countrywide so that political parties can resume their activities and get registered with the EC.

One hundred and twenty-four staff of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd yesterday handed over their illegally amassed wealth worth about Tk 350 crore to the task force while 11 others also supposed to do so have gone into hiding, sources said.

The counsel for Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina will move to have the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against her transferred to another court as they fear they might not get justice at the present one.

The troubled Barapukuria coalmine struck a record coal production in its history Sunday extracting 4,085 tonnes of coal in a single day, which is almost three times higher than it normally produced last year.

Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday requested Vietnam to help Bangladesh get membership of the Ganges-Mekong Cooperation Initiative so, as a lower-riparian country, it can reap benefit out of the bloc.

WorldTel Bangladesh Limited (WTBL) in a rejoinder to a news headlined "Moudud bent rules to get WorldTel's Nayeem loan" published in The Daily Star on January 17 disagreed with some parts of the story.

A High Court (HC) bench yesterday started delivering its judgment that would decide whether the government's move to bring the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case filed against Sheikh Hasina under the Emergency Power Rules, 2007 (EPR) was legal.

Judge Azizul Huq who is hearing the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against Sheikh Hasina yesterday told the defence and prosecution lawyers that "a chaotic situation" was the main reason for his walking out of the court on Monday.

A high-level European Parliament delegation on climate change arrives today to assess Bangladesh's readiness and requirements to adapt to global warming, with an eye on possible protection and adaptation funds in the future.

The government should adhere to the election roadmap to ensure elections by the end of the year and its continued commitment to the roadmap will boost investor confidence in Bangladesh, Geeta Pasi, the US chargé d'affaires in Dhaka, said yesterday.

Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday received a report from the delegation that visited Myanmar recently and discussed with relevant authorities "to lay the foundation of technical negotiations on maritime boundary."

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slugged out a neck-and-neck Democratic feud and John McCain sought a choke-hold on the Republican race on "Super Tuesday," a coast-to-coast White House nominating clash unique in US history.

Editorial

Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda revealed yesterday that he has demanded of the government that emergency be either lifted or relaxed in all places where city corporation or municipal polls are to be held. He has also asked that indoor politics be permitted from March 20. The difficulties associated with the holding of polls to the four city corporations and nine municipalities, slated for April, as well as the projected general elections by the end of the year, thus become obvious. So far the political parties have remained in a straitjacket where preparing for the elections is concerned. In broad measure, it is the people of Bangladesh whose minds are now being greatly exercised over the prospects of early elections and a return to democratic government.

The high incidence of poultry deaths and the staggering figure of culled fowls are clearly indicative of the dreadful spread of bird flu in Bangladesh. Although it has not yet crossed the critical threshold of transmuting into humans, it may be pretty close to that danger point, if we are to lower the guard.

All these years after the Language Movement, it makes sense to ask what we have lately been doing with Bengali, or Bangla as many would like to call it. That sense of inquiry becomes rather important, indeed acquires urgency of a sort, considering that in a very large number of instances the Bengali language has been getting pretty mangled and, in the end, muddled altogether.

The race for the Democratic nomination has come down to Senator Hillary Clinton (New York) and Senator Barack Obama (Illinois). If Obama wins the nomination, he will be acclaimed as a national figure of indubitable presidential stature. If Hilary Clinton wins -- the more likely outcome of the primaries -- she will have shed her unelectable image, but would she?

Will elections be held on February 18? Some say they will be, while many doubt whether the PML (Q) and the establishment, sensing defeat, would let the elections go through on the day. But, considering some international pressure and the fact that postponing it will cause an immediate uproar and will not help the retired General Pervez Musharraf to go ahead with his plans, sticking to the date may become necessary. Few are sure either way.

The three-day players' transfers for the upcoming Premier and First Division Cricket Leagues closed yesterday with Surjo Tarun signing up two former national captains and Mohammad Rafique hinting of his impending retirement.

Mohammedan Sporting Club on Monday formed a three-member inquiry committee headed by Dr Nizamuddin Ahmed to investigate the incident during the first day of the three-day inter-club cricketers' transfer for the Premier and First Division leagues at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday.

Two out of six Bangladeshi players moved to the second round of boys' singles while only four players survived a bad day for Indians in the Grameenphone International Junior (U-16) Tennis Champion-ships (Group-3) at the Zafar Imam Tennis Complex here yesterday.

Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday became the first batsmen in the history of one-day cricket to cross the 16,000-run mark, a milestone which appears to be a distant dream for any other player in near future.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik on Tuesday denied that he had ever entered into a telephonic 'niqah' with any Indian girl and said he has been a victim of a fraud done by a family based in Hyderabad in India.

As Euro 2008 hopefuls get down to the serious business of fine-tuning their squad permutations for the summer England must embark instead on the long road to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa under new Italian coach Fabio Capello.

Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi has been ruled out of Italy's friendly with Portugal in Zurich on Wednesday because of a bad back, the Italian soccer federation said on its Web site (www.figc.it) said.

David Beckham's axing from the England team for Wednesday's friendly against Switzerland at Wembley has borne witness to manager Fabio Capello's rugged approach but the former England captain said he "totally" respected the decision.

Gautam Gambhir has been in and out of India's dressing room for some time now and should know what it takes to seal a permanent place. It hasn't always revealed itself -- he has not always made the most of his comeback opportunities -- but on Tuesday he set aside the disappointment of missing out on a place in the Test squad with his third one-day century, against Sri Lanka at the Gabba.

Rain stole a second game in Brisbane with the situation delicately poised and both India and Sri Lanka claimed the advantage after the match. Kumar Sangakkara felt a chase of 268 was achievable while Gautam Gambhir was convinced his team had scored enough to secure a much-needed victory.

Geoff Miller, England's newly-installed chief selector, has hinted that any England player who signs up for the rebel Indian Cricket League could go the same way as New Zealand's Shane Bond, who last month had his national contract terminated and now faces being cast into the international wilderness.

Rohit Sharma was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for dissent after being incorrectly judged caught behind for 0 off Muttiah Muralidaran at the Gabba. Sharma was the second India batsman to remain camped to the crease following his dismissal over the past six weeks, but his punishment was stronger than Yuvraj Singh's following an in-depth pre-series discussion on behaviour by Jeff Crowe, the match referee.

Business

The government has set up special training sessions on workers rights for garment factory managers in an attempt to counter the labour unrest that has threatened the success of the country's main export earner.

A group of non-resident Bangladeshi (NRB) investors from USA has taken an initiative to set up a specialised SME-focused venture capital investment services company in the private sector in Bangladesh.

Metropolitan

Both the Brac Bank authorities and the customers whose gold ornaments were stolen from the bank lockers are still worried as the police failed to recover all the stolen items as of yesterday, a month into the heist.

Seven thousand security personnel will be deployed in and around the Central Shaheed Minar in the city for smooth observance of Amar Ekushey on February 21 commemorate the martyrdom of the heroes of language movement in 1952.

Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday said a high-level delegation from Bangladesh will visit Saudi Arabia shortly to examine reports that have appeared in a section of the media about the predicaments of some Bangladeshis there.

One hundred and eighty eight doctors in a statement yesterday expressed grave concern over the health condition of detained Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and demanded the government ensures her proper treatment.

Mohammad Hossain Shiplu, a Bangladeshi associate of Indian national Jibon Singh, a prime suspect in stealing the Nobel Prize medal of poet Rabindranath Tagore, was taken on a three-day police remand yesterday.

A group of Dhaka University (DU) students who were recently released from jail yesterday urged the government to withdraw all the cases filed against teachers and students in connection with the campus violence in August.

Two Bangladesh Chhatra League men of Rajshahi University (RU) unit accused in the campus violence case yesterday called on the acting registrar of the university Prof Muhammad Shafi and urged him to withdraw the case immediately.

Hundreds of students of Rajshahi University led by Islamic Chhatra Shibir (ICS) activists yesterday formed a human chain in front of the central library on the campus demanding cancellation of the 55 per cent quota system in the BCS examinations.

Detained Khulna City Corporation mayor Sheikh Tayebur Rahman was produced before the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge (3rd court) Md Barekuzzaman yesterday in connection with an arms case.

Bangladesh Chhatra League Rajshahi University (RU) unit yesterday demanded withdrawal of the case filed by RU authorities against BCL RU General Secretary Ayeen Uddin and activist Dipayan Sarker Dip for their alleged involvement in the campus violence on August 22 and 23.

Letters

Bangladesh's greatest playwright Professor Selim Al Deen passed away on 14 December 2007 at only 58. He was the founder of the Dramatics Department at Jahangirnagar University. He was also the president of Gram Theatre Project under Dhaka Theatre.

The forthcoming general election in Bangladesh is going to be a free and fair election mainly due to the use of a voter-list with photograph and photo ID for all voters. The Election Commission and the administration concerned with holding of the election have also significantly changed. However, I would like to draw the attention of the Election Commission to the election procedures, materials and tools.

I migrated to the USA in December, 1994. I am originally from Bangladesh and was born at Narayangonj in 1968. There are lots of things I like and enjoy in the USA. However, one thing that has been shocking me since my arrival here is that in my observation here the people do not drink plain water frequently enough. Well, over time, even back in Bangladesh where I go back almost every year to spend my vacation time, these days many people are also getting clogged with busy schedules and I noticed that lots of people, especially who work long hours, tend to drink less water. Drinking less water is becoming a social concern around the world.

The prices of essential commodities, such as rice, dal, wheat, oil, vegetables, etc. have gone further up during the last few days in our country. It is called an agricultural country but nowadays, rice sells at Tk 30 or 35 per kg. It has already gone beyond the buying capacity of the common people. Fish which is now scarcely available in the market is selling very dear. Besides, the prices of vegetables have gone up very high. We the students of a university/university college cannot buy all the necessary things, because we are students and do not have enough money. The rising prices of foods and essential commodities are causing great hardship to the people of all classes.

It can be observed with great concern that drug addiction is on the rise in our society and a large number of our youths are addicted to drugs. The government and some non government organisations are trying their best to minimize the problem. But we do not see any visible improvement. Here I present a scheme which could be very successful to keep our youths away from drugs.

There have been numerous explanations and definitions of war through theories, such as: Historical, Psychological, Demographic, Marxist, Economic, and Rationalist, among others. In one word; war is any large scale violent act which many times resolves in the destruction of one's territory, nation, and lives. War is learned and has evolved through history, these days war is conducted through military campaigns, which includes: armed conflict, intelligence, troops movement, propaganda, aircraft, bombs and missiles.

Have we forgotten the 'war criminal' issue? No one seems to like talking about it any more. All societies truly abhor crimes committed during wars. Horrific memories of '71 genocide have left our country embittered with pain and sorrow. This will only heal if we bring all those war criminals to justice.

After reading the cover article of The Star Weekend Magazine, on The Bangladesh Special Olympics Team, I was thoroughly moved. All that the team wants is to make their homeland proud. The disabled have just as much right and claim on Bangladesh as we have. They have done so much better than our other competing athletes. All they want is respect. And they have earned that right. Bravo !

Freedom of speech, freedom of press etc. are the pre-requisites of democracy. More or less our press is free. Even during the autocratic rule of Ershad, our press was enjoying freedom unlike many others in the present day world. We are quite happy about it and hope none will be able to snatch away this right from us in future.

Two thousand and eight years After the Death of Christ, the political and economic programmes and processes would be worth mentioning in Bangladesh. Like a train, the caretaker government (CTG) headed by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed is steaming ahead on a railway track with the reformed and reorganised Election Commission (EC), Public Service Commission (PSC) and the separation of the Judiciary from the Executive branch of the government.

Moinul Chowdhury (Letter January 18) is the latest of many to misunderstand Henry Kissinger's awful comment about Bangladesh, which is a great deal worse than 'bottomless basket'. That conveys the notion of some nation or person having endless needs and, actually, if Kissinger had meant that, he would probably have used the more likely English expression 'a bucket with a hole in the bottom'. No, he said that Bangladesh was a 'basket-case' - and the real meaning of that is much more insulting.

Veteran Hong Kong reporter Ching Cheong has been freed on parole after spending nearly three years in jail in China on spying charges, officials here said yesterday, sparking celebrations among his supporters.

Arts & Entertainment

As part of the daily discussion at the month-long Amar Ekushey Granthamela 2008, filmmaker Manzar-e Hasin Murad presented a paper titled Achievements in art and literature over three decades: Film (1972-2007) on February 4.

The three-day documentary screening, titled Voices of Adolescents, started at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Central Public Library on February 4. A total of seven documentaries are being screened at the programme. Each film is 30-40 minutes in duration, and all of them are produced by the Audio Visual (AV) Centre of the NGO, Steps Towards Development. The programme also includes discussion on adolescence everyday prior to the documentary screening.

The unique splendour of the Sunderbans, the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world that is recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site, has been presented beautifully at the ongoing photo exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). Not only the spectacular fauna and flora of the Sunderbans, but also its biodiversity and natural resources have been highlighted at the exhibition titled Aparajeo Sunderban by Khasru Chawdhury. Chowdhury has been travelling in the areas of Sunderbans for the last 34 years. One hundred and ten photographs taken in the last six years by the photo-artiste are on display.

OP-ED

Over the past few decades, remittances from non-residents (NR) have become an increasingly important source of external funding for many developing nations, including Bangladesh. While migrants have always been sending money home to their families, only recently has this remittance begun to play an important role in the economies of these countries, and scholars have begun to pay attention. Numerous issues relevant to NR remittance, such as the process of remittance, its influence and effects on national economy, skills-building institutions for increased remittance, etc. deserve close attention.

Sloganeers, propagandists and politicians often use the word "genocide" in ways that the law does not permit. But rarely is the crime of genocide invoked when Western militaries murder Muslim groups. This essay argues that the internationally recognised crime of genocide applies to the intentional killings that Nato troops commit on a weekly basis in the poor villages and mute mountains of Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban, a puritanical Islamic group.

The platform should be set before starting a mega project like underground metro rail, that means a feasibility study should be carried out. What is the meaning of the term "feasibility," and when is this study undertaken?

Treatment of stroke patients is witnessing rapid improvement with the opening of a specialised therapy centre at Mirpur by the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), a non-profit organisation.